With the advent of the Internet, web pages and associated content are obtained by client-side browsing applications from one or more servers via a distributed computing system or a network. The content and/or functionality of a given web page, for example, JavaScript files or stylesheet files, are obtained from a server, but are typically cached on the client-side computer for future use. Thus, when a previously cached web page is browsed, the client-side browsing application may render the cached page without the need for requesting the page from the server. When a given piece of web page content or functionality is changed on the server, the client-side browsing application must invalidate the cached web page and obtain a revised version of the web page from the server. Without a means for informing the client-side browsing application that the server-side web page or associated content or functionality has changed, the client-side browsing application must obtain the web page from the server each time the web page is browsed. Such “round-tripping” between the client-side and the server-side each time a web page is browsed is very inefficient and time consuming.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.